Ah Tai Chicken Rice: What to Order at Maxwell Food Centre

EatChinatown15 March 20266 min read

Visited in March 2026. Verified by an STB-licensed tourist guide.

Chicken Rice at Maxwell

TL;DR

Worth it? Yes. As good a choice as Tian Tian for chicken rice

Location: Maxwell Food Centre, Chinatown

Getting there: Maxwell (TE18)

Spend: S$5 to S$8 a head

Must try: The steamed chicken rice set

Good to know: Small queue at lunch. We went just after

Close-up of Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice set with steamed chicken slices in soy sauce, blanched green vegetables and a mound of rice — The steamed chicken from our set, with greens and rice.

Two Chicken Rice Stalls, a Few Steps Apart

Ah Tai Chicken Rice is a Hainanese chicken rice stall at Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown. It stands a few steps from Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, the stall that holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

The two sell the same dish, and the man behind Ah Tai used to be a chef at Tian Tian. We have eaten at both. Here is who runs Ah Tai, what we ordered, what the menu costs and how to get there.

The Origin of Ah Tai Chicken Rice

Wang Liang Tai runs the stall, and his name and mobile number are handwritten on a note at the counter. Taped to the window is a newspaper clipping with the headline Tian Tian’s ex-chef opens Ah Tai Chicken Rice. The Chinese-language clipping beside it describes a chicken rice head chef going up against his old employer.

Storefront of Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Food Centre with a blue menu signboard, poached chickens hanging in the glass display and a customer at the counter — The stall front. The newspaper clippings are taped to the left of the window.

He opened Ah Tai in 2012 and did not go far. It is in the same food centre as the stall he left, which makes it the nearby alternative. Whole cooked chickens hang in the window, and the menu runs along a lit board above it.

How Hainanese Chicken Rice Came to Singapore

Hainanese chicken rice is steamed white chicken, cut into bite-size pieces and served on fragrant rice with light soy sauce. It goes back to a chicken rice dish from Hainan, an island off the southern coast of China. That version uses a bony bird with little flesh, and rice that is thick with oil.

Top-down view of a Hainanese chicken rice set on a green tray with steamed chicken in soy sauce, rice, blanched vegetables, a bowl of soup and chilli sauce — Our set on its tray: chicken, rice, vegetables, soup and chilli sauce.

The Hainan dish is probably what grew into the Singapore version, through Hainanese immigrants in the region and local influences. Two things changed along the way. Chefs in Hainan use a stock of pork and chicken bones, while cooks in Singapore leave out the pork. The Cantonese style of white cut chicken, made with young and tender birds, also shaped the chicken rice served here today.

What We Ate at Ah Tai

We ordered the set. It came on a tray with steamed chicken, a mound of rice, green vegetables, a bowl of soup and a saucer of chilli sauce. The portion was on the big side for a small eater. Here is how each part tasted.

The Chicken

The meat was tender and succulent, and the skin had a jelly-like layer under it. Steamed chicken is usually made by steeping or blanching the bird in hot water, then soaking it in cold water. That gives tender meat and a gelatinous layer of fat beneath the skin.

Side view of poached chicken slices at Ah Tai Chicken Rice with glistening skin and soy sauce, next to blanched bok choy — The chicken comes sliced with the skin on and soy sauce poured over.

The Rice

The rice was well seasoned, fluffy and fragrant, with a slightly firm bite. Chicken rice gets its flavour in two steps. The grains are fried in chicken fat, then cooked in chicken broth.

Close-up of a mound of Hainanese chicken rice at Ah Tai showing glossy individual grains — The rice, with sauce from the chicken soaking in at one edge.

Chilli Sauce and Soup

The chilli sauce was tangy and not too strong, and it went well with the rice. For chicken rice the sauce is made of chillies, chicken broth, garlic and ginger. Spoon it over the rice or dip the chicken in it.

Plastic spoon dripping bright orange chilli sauce onto a plate of Ah Tai chicken rice mixed with dark soy sauce — Chilli sauce going over rice that we had mixed with dark soy sauce.

The soup was clear and clean-tasting, with chopped spring onion floating on top. A sip between bites clears the palate.

The Menu and What It Costs

These prices are from our visit. Hainanese chicken rice is S$5, $6 or $7, and the set is $6 or $8. Chicken drumstick rice and chicken thigh rice are $6 each.

Blue signboard of Ah Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Food Centre with menu photos and prices above the stall window — Look for the blue signboard, with the name in Chinese and English.

Blue price board at Ah Tai Chicken Rice listing chicken rice, set, half and whole chicken and side dishes, with payment QR codes above it — The price board at the counter, with the payment QR codes above it.

For a group, half a chicken is S$15 and a whole chicken is $30. On the side there are vegetables in oyster sauce at $4 or $6, bean sprouts at $3 or $5, a chicken wing at $2, innards at $3 and crystal chicken feet at $5. Hawker prices change, so check the board before you order.

What to Know About Maxwell Food Centre

Maxwell Food Centre stands at the junction of South Bridge Road and Maxwell Road. It opened as Maxwell Market on 17 November 1928 and stayed a wet market until 1987, when it was converted into a food centre to house hawkers relocated from China Square. It closed in September 2000 for a S$3.2 million revamp and reopened in May 2001. More than 100 food stalls trade here now.

Interior of Maxwell Food Centre with high orange steel roof trusses, ceiling fans, rows of hawker stalls and diners at green round tables — Maxwell Food Centre at lunch, under its orange roof trusses.

Getting There

Take the Thomson-East Coast Line to Maxwell station (TE18). The station is directly beside Maxwell Food Centre and across from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.

Other Stalls to Try

There is more to eat here than chicken rice. These three stalls are listed in the Michelin Guide.

Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster Cake (#01-05): oyster cakes fried to order, filled with minced pork, oysters, prawns and coriander. Closed on Sundays.
Rojak, Popiah & Cockle (#01-56): the stall sells the three dishes in its name.
Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (#01-10/11): the stall Ah Tai is compared with. Closed on Mondays.

Before you order

Order the set for a full tray: chicken, rice, vegetables and soup.
It is self-service. Order and pay at the counter, then carry your tray to a table.
You can pay by PayLah, PayNow, Alipay, GrabPay or cash. CDC Vouchers are accepted too.
Expect a small queue at lunch. We went just after it.
The stall is closed on Tuesdays.

Do These as a Pair

Ah Tai, then Tian Tian. Both stalls are in Maxwell Food Centre, so order a plate at each and compare. Read our Tian Tian Chicken Rice guide.

The Verdict: Is Ah Tai Chicken Rice Worth It?

If you just want a good plate of chicken rice, Ah Tai is as good a choice as Tian Tian.

The chicken was tender, the rice was fragrant and the chilli had tang without too much heat. We went just after lunch. Expect a small queue during the lunch hour itself.

Between the two stalls, we find Tian Tian more consistent. That should not stop you from eating here. Trying Tian Tian is part of the Singapore checklist, so if that is what you are after, queue there. If you only want to eat chicken rice, come here.

The steamed chicken rice set is all we ordered, so we cannot tell you about the side dishes.

We would order the set again.